Sauerkraut processing apparatus



2 Shegts-Sheet 1 D. M. MOBEAN ETAL SAUERKRAUT PROCESSING APPARATUS um umaw mum N .r 5 0 N m w L 0 Y B N mm, 4 L 4% Q am June 3, 1958 Filed Julyso. 1954 ATTORNEY i D. M. M BEAN ETAL SAUERKRAUT PROCESSING APPARATUSJune 3, 1958 2 Sheetssh 2 Filed July 30. 1954 IN V EN TOR. DOUGL ANDLAl/R 45 M mesa/v ewes a. mum v ATTORNEY United States Patent '0SAUERKRAUT PROCESSING APPARATUS Douglas M. McBean, Rochester, andLaurence C. Tallman, Churchville, N. Y., assignors to McBean ResearchCorporation, Rochester, N. Y., a corporation of New York ApplicationJuly 30, 1954, Serial No. 446,707

11 Claims. (Cl. 259-95) The present invention relates to canning.apparatus and more particularly to a soaking and filler feed tank foruse with machines for canning sauerkraut.

In making sauerkraut cabbage. is shredded andsalted, then placed in. avat or cask and allowed to soak in the brine for several months beforebeing canned. When the kraut is removed from the fermenting vat to beprocessed for canning, a substantial portion of it is usually lumped andknotted together; especially the kraut near the bottom of the vat.Theseknotted lumps of kraut cause a serious canning problem; for unlessthese knots and lumps are thoroughly unravelled it is impossible tosterilize the kraut completely, for the sterilizing steam is unable topenetrate to the cores of these lumps. As a result when the kraut iscanned, some cans contain kraut Which is wholly 'or partiallyunsterilized. Fermentation continues within these cans; the pressurebuild-up bulges the cans; and the kraut. in them is unfit forconsumption. As a result there is not only a sizeable loss to thecanner, wholesaler, or retailer, but damage to the reputation of thetrademark under which the kraut is sold. 1

Numerous. attempts havebeen made to overcome this problem. One practiceis. to dump the kraut into a breakup tank and to paddle the kraut inthis tank before feeding it into the sterilizer. In paddling the krautlarge paddles which project into the break-up tank, move back and forth,breaking up, the. lumps of kraut, However, it. has been found that this.makes, mainly, small lumps out of large ones and does not thoroughlyloosen the kraut. Furthermore, the paddles tend to tear the shreds orthreads of kraut. This is a particularly undesirable result because thetype'of kraut in greatest commerical demand is long thread kraut.

Another problem with'tbe. conventional break-up tank is that of feedingthe kraut. from the break-up tank into the sterilizer at an even,uniform rate so that the canning machine can be runat its peakproduction capacity. One feeding device, that is conventionally used, isa rotatable steel drum partially submerged. at one end of the breakuptank. This drum is equipped with numerous projecting spikes which pickthe kraut. out of the brine .as the drum rotates and deliver the. krautonto an endless belt for conveyance to the canning machine. This drumhas. several deficiencies. Means must. be provided to re.- move thekraut from the spikes so that it will drop onto the. conveyor. The krauttends to become lodged. between the drum and the tank and, unlessremoved, will turn brown and decay. Therefore the tank and drum requirefrequent cleaning. Furthermore, the knotted lumps of kraut tend to sinkin the brine out. of the reach of the drum spikes, where they remainuntil manually removed.

. The primary object of the present invention is to provide means forcompletely breaking up and separating sauerkraut after it is removedfrom the fermentation vat and before feeding it into the sterilizer.

Another object of the invention is to provide apparatus "ice which willbreak up and separate knotted sauerkraut without tearing the threads ofkraut.

Another object of the invention is to provide. a breakup and feed tankfor separating and breakingxup sauerkraut which so operates that thesauerkraut will be prevented from becoming lodged in the tank during thebreak-up and feeding process.

Another object of the invention is to provide a breakup and feed tank ofthe character described having novel means for efficiently removingsauerkraut from the tank at an even and uniform rate.

Other objects of the invention will be apparent hereinafter frornthespecification and from the recital of the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of an improved break-up and feed tankconstructed. according to one embodiment 0 this invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of this tank;

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal, vertical section of the tank;

Fig. 4 is a transverse, vertical section through the tank taken on line4-4 of Fig. 3 and looking in thedirection of the arrows; and

Fig. 5 is an enlarged, fragmentary section taken on lines 55 in Fig. land looking in the direction of the arrows Referring now tothe drawingsby numerals of reference, 1t] denotes a generally rectangularwater-tight tank which may be constructed of water-proof plywood,- orother suitable material. This tank comprises a bottom or base 20, twoparallel side walls 21 and 22, a forward wall 34, front braces orsupports 23, and a rear wall 24. For supporting the tank 10 off andabove the floor, longitudinal and transverse support planks 25, 26 areprovided. Vertically disposed, spaced studding '27 is pro-- vided toreinforce the side walls and these are braced by braces 23 (Fig. 4) eachof which seats at oneend against the studdingand at its opposite endagainst the transverse planks 26.

Within. the tank 10 is a steel bafile plate 30 (Fig. 3.) which isslanted upwardly at approximately a 45 angle. and toward the frontsupports 23. One end. of the plate 30 has a flange portion 31,projecting rearwardly, which may be secured to the base 20 of the tankby screws or in any other desired manner. The. opposite end of the platehas a similar flange 32 which projects forwardly.

As shown in Fig. 3., the top of this plate is below the,

top of the tank. It extends transversely ofv the tank from side to sideof the; tank.

The forward wall 34,-slanted at substantially the same angle as theplate 3iland afiixed to the sides of the tank, runs from the base 20' tothe tops of the forward supports 23. The bafde plate 3d and wall 34createa compartment 35 within-the tank which is: separate from the sec.-tion 36. of the tank that is bounded by the rear wall24 and the .baflleplate 30. Spanning between the top of the baffle plate 30 and the top ofwall 34 is a fine metal screen orperforated plate 38 which runs parallelto the base: 20 for a portion of. its. length. and then curves upwardlyto. its juncture with the top of wall 3.4. The plate 39 and screen 38are. maintained-in position and. sup portedby the wooden brace members37 that are secured to: the sides of the tank.

A pump 4ll'with a capacity of aboutlOOgallons perminute, is connected toone side. 21 of the tank between the bafile plate 30 and wall 34. Theflange of the pipe-- connection with the suction side of this pump isdenoted at 39 (Fig. l); and the pipe connection itself is shown.

is. connected through, the pipes. 42, 43. and. 44 (Figs. 2, 3

and 4) to a series of nozzles 45 which are disposed parallel to oneanother across the width of the rear end of the tank section 36 adjacentthe bottom thereof. The pipe 41 is also connected with a vertical pipe47 which, in turn, is connected through a horizontal pipe 48 to a secondseries of nozzles 46 which are disposed to extend upwardly in adirection parallel to the bafiie plate 30.

Projecting into the section 36 of the tank 10 adjacent its rear side isa pipe 50 for delivering compressed air to the tank. This pipe runsvertically parallel to the wall 24. It is connected at its bottom to apipe or manifold 51 that extends horizontally parallel to the base 20,ending at a point just short of the baflie plate 30. The pipe ormanifold 51 is in communication with a plurality of parallel conduits52, spaced along the base 20 and extending parallel thereto. Theseconduits are provided with numerous fine air holes in their lower sides.A compressed air line is connected with pipe 50 so that compressed airflows through pipes 50, 51 and 52, and the air holes in pipes 52, intothe tank section 36.

One size tank that has been constructed according to this invention istwelve feet in overall length, six feet two and a half inches in lengthfrom the rear wall 24 to the bottom of the bafiie plate 30, seventeenand one half inches wide between the side walls 21 and 22, and threefeet deep. This tank is adapted to be filled with cold brine to a depthto slightly lap over that portion of the screen 38 which runs parallelto the base 20. About one ton of sauerkraut may be dumped into a tanksection 36 of the size described. Due to the forward direction of flowofwater from the nozzles 45 and the upward direction of flow of waterfrom the nozzles 46, and to the suction of the pump attached to chamber35 by flange 39, and due to the agitation produced by the compressed airflowing from pipes 52, the kraut is rolled round and round and agitatedand the threads of kraut are separated from one another and carriedupwardly over baflie plate 30 and onto screen or drain plate 38. Thewater draining from the kraut through the perforations in the screenfalls into chamber 35 and is returned by the pump to pipe 41 for useagain. The pump causes a continuous circulation of the water in thetank, the water being pumped out of tank section 36 over the metal batheplate 30 and through screen 38 back into the section 36 of the tank atthe bottom thereof in the entering portion of the tank where the krautis dumped into the tank. The nozzles 46 may be omitted, if desired, butare preferably used because they help force the kraut up and over thebathe 30 into the spaces between the rakes that rake the kraut off thescreen.

The kraut is adapted to be raked off the screen 38 by rakes 60 (Fig.which are fastened at opposite lateral ends to two parallel endlesschains 62. The tines of these rakes are denoted at 61. The chains 62travel over two pairs of sprockets 63, one pair of sprockets beingsecured to a shaft 64 in axially spaced relation; and the other pair ofsprockets being secured to a shaft 65 in cor-- responding axially spacedrelation. The shaft 64 is journaled in pillow blocks 66 which aresecured to a frame 67 mounted on top of the tank and the shaft 65 isjournaled in pillow blocks 68 which are also secured to the frame 67.

Shaft 65 is driven by a motor (not shown), a belt 70, and a pulley 71.The pulley 71 is secured to a shaft 72, which is parallel to the shaft65. The shaft 72 is journaled in pillow blocks 73 secured to the frame67. Secured to the shaft 72 is a spur pinion 74 which meshes with a spurgear 75 that is secured to the sprocket shaft 65. The rotation of theshafts 72 and 65 and of the sprockets 63, are synchronized with theoperation of the canning machine so that kraut is raked from the screen38 only in quantities that can be handled by the machine. The lowerreach of belt 62 is so positioned that the tines mounted thereon arepositioned just above the surface of the screen 38 (Fig. 5) to rake itclean during operation and to keep it from clogging. A conveyor belt,not

shown, may receive the kraut as it is raked off the screen and convey itto the canning machine.

While the invention has been described in connection with a particularembodiment thereof, it is capable of various modifications and uses, andthis application is intended to cover any variations, uses oradaptations of the invention following, in general, the principles ofthe invention and including such deparatures from the present disclosureas come within known or customary practice in the art to which theinvention pertains and as may be applied to the essential featureshereinbefore set forth and as fall within the scope of the invention orthe limits of the appended claims.

Having thus described our invention what we claim is:

1. Apparatus for'processing sauerkraut comprising a tank having a rearend and a forward end, a liquid impervious baffle plate in said tankdividing it into a rear section and a forward section, the top of saidbaffle plate being lower than the top of said tank, said tank beingadapted to be filled with kraut and liquid to a depthlevel higher thanthe height of said baffle plate, a perforated member spanning said tankfrom the top of said baflie plate to the top of the forward end of saidtank and through which liquid may drain into said forward sec tion,means for continuously pumping said liquid out of the forward section ofsaid tank and into the rear section of said tank to circulate saidliquid and thereby move the kraut forwardly through said tank, over saidbafile plate and onto said perforated member, means within the rearsection of said tank for agitating said liquid while depth-level higherthan the height of said baflie plate, a

screen spanning said tank from the top of said baflile plate to the topof the forward end of said tank and through which liquid may drain intosaid forward section, means for continuously pumping said liquid out ofthe forward section of said tank and into the rear section of said tankto circulate said liquid and thereby move the kraut forwardly throughsaid tank, over said baffle plate and onto said screen, means within therear section of said tank for supplying air under pressure to saidliquid to agitate the liquid and the kraut therein.

3. Apparatus for processing sauerkraut, comprising a tank having a rearend and a forward end, a liquid impervious baffle plate in said tankdividing it into a rear section and a forward section, the top of saidbafile plate being lower than the top of said tank, said tank beingadapted to be filled with kraut and liquid to a depthlevel higher thanthe height of said bafile plate, a perforated member spanning said tankfrom the top of said baffle plate to the top of the forward end of saidtank and through which liquid may drain into said forward section, meansfor continuously pumping said liquid out of the forward section of saidtank and into the rear section of said tank to circulate said liquid andthereby move the kraut forwardly through said tank over said baffleplate and onto said perforated member, said means comprising a pump,piping and a series of outlet nozzles, said nozzles being positioned inthe rear section of said tank at the bottom thereof and directed towardthe forward section of said tank.

4. Apparatus for processing sauerkraut, comprising a tank having a rearand a forward end, a liquid impervious inclined baffle plate in saidtank dividing it into a rear section and a forward section, the top ofsaid baffle plate being lower than the top of said tank, said tank beingadapted to be filled with kraut and a liquid to a depth-level higherthan the height of said baflie plate, a perforated member spanning saidtank from the top of said baffie plate to the top of the forward end ofsaid tank and through which liquid may drain into said forward section,means for continuously pumping said liquid out of the forward section ofsaid tank and into the rear section of said tank to circulate saidliquid and thereby move the kraut forwardly through said tank over saidbaffle plate and onto said perforated member, said means comprising apump, piping and two sets of outlet nozzles, said sets of outlet nozzlesbeing mounted in the rear section of said tank, one set of said nozzlesbeing positioned adjacent and parallel to the bottom of said tank at therear end thereof and directed toward the forward end of said tank, theother set of nozzles being positioned on the bottom of said tankadjacent said bafile plate and extending upwardly parallel thereto.

5. Apparatus for processing sauerkraut comprising a tank having a rearand a forward end, a liquid impervious baffle plate in said tankdividing it into a rear section and a forwad section, the top of saidbafile plate being lower than the top of said tank, said tank beingadapted to be filled with kraut and liquid to a depth-level higher thanthe height of said baffie plate, a perforated member spanning said tankfrom the top of said bafiie plate to the top of the forward end of saidtank and through which liquid may drain into said forward section, meansfor continuously pumping said liquid out of the forward section of saidtank and into the rear section of said tank to circulate said liquid andthereby move the kraut forwardly through said tank, over said baflleplate and onto said perforated member, means within the rear section ofsaid tank for agitating said liquid while it is circulating, saidagitating means being positioned in the rear section of said tankadjacent the bottom thereof, and comprising a plurality of conduitsconnected to a source of compressed air, said conduits being parallel tothe base of said tank and having a plurality of outlet holes throughwhich air is ejected into said liquid.

6. Apparatus for processing sauerkraut comprising a tank having a rearand a forward end, a liquid impervious inclined baflie plate in saidtank dividing it intoa rear section and a forward section, the top ofsaid baffle plate being lower than the top of said tank, said tank beingadapted to be filled with kraut and liquid to a depth-level higher thanthe height of said baffle plate, a screen spanning said tank from thetop of said baffie plate to the top of the forward end of said tank andthrough which the liquid may drain into said forward section, means forcontinuously pumping said liquid out of the forward section of said tankand into the rear section of said tank to circulate said liquid andthereby move the kraut forwardly through said tank, over said baffleplate and onto said screen, means within the rear section of said tankfor agitating said liquid while it is circulating, said circulatingmeans comprising a pump, piping and a series of outlet nozzles, saidoutlet nozzles being positioned in the rear section of said tankadjacent the bottom thereof and directed toward the forward section ofsaid tank, said agitating means comprising a manifold positioned in therear section of said tank and connected to a source of compressed air,and a plurality of conduits extending from said manifold, said conduitsbeing adjacent and parallel to the base of said tank and having aplurality of outlet holes through which air is ejected into said liquid.

7. Apparatus for processing sauerkraut comprising a tank adapted to holdkraut and a liquid, said tank having a rear wall, a forward wall, and apair of side walls connecting the rear and forward walls, a baffle platedisposed across said tank between said rear and said forward walls anddividing said tank into a rear section and a forward section, saidbaflle plate extending from the bottom of the tank to a point below thetop of the tank and being inclined forwardly of the tank from its bottomto its top, a foraminous member extending forwardly of the tank fromsaid baffle plate and through which liquid may drain 6 into said forwardsection, said tank being adapted to be filled with kriaut and liquid toa level above the top of said baffle plate, means for pumping liquid ontof said forward section into said rear section adjacent the bottomthereof, and means fors'upplying compressed air into inclined forwardlyof the tank from its bottom to its top,

. a foramionus member extending forwardly of the tank from said baffleplate and through which liquid may drain into said forward section, saidtank being adapted to be filled with kraut and liquid to a level abovethe top of said hafile plate, means for pumping liquid out of saidforward section into said rear section adjacent the bottom thereof, andmeans for supplying compressed air into said rear section adjacent thebottom thereof to agitate the liquid and kraut therein.

9. Apparatus for processing sauerkraut comprising a tank adapted to holdkraut and a liquid, said tank having a rear wall, a forward wall, and apair of side walls connecting the rear and forward walls, a baffle platedisposed across said tank between said rear and said forward Walls anddividing said tank into a rear section and a forward section, saidbaffle plate extending from the bottom of the tank to a point below thetop of the tank and being inclined forwardly of the tank from its bottomto its top, a foraminous plate extending forwardly of the tank from saidbafile plate and through which liquid may drain into said forwardsection, said tank being adapted to be filled with kraut and liquid to alevel above the top of said baflie plate, means for pumping liquid outof said forward section and into said rear section adjacent the bottomthereof and including a nozzle disposed in said rear section adjacentthe rear and bottom of said rear section and directed forwardly, andmeans for supplying compressed air into said rear section to agitate theliquid and kraut therein.

10. Apparatus for processing sauerkraut comprising a tank adapted tohold kraut and a liquid, said tank having a rear wall, a forward wall,and a pair of side walls connecting the rear and forward walls, a baffleplate disposed across said tank between said rear and said forward wallsand dividing said tank into a rear section and a forward section, saidbaffle plate extending from the bottom of the tank to a point below thetop of the tank and being inclined forwardly of the tank from its bottomto its top, a foraminous plate extending forwardly of the tank from saidbaffle plate and through which liquid may drain into said forwardsection, said tank being adapted to be filled with kraut and liquid to alevel above the top of said baffie plate, means for pumping liquid outof said forward section and into said rear section adjacent the bottomthereof and including a nozzle disposed in said rear section adjacentsaid bafile plate and adjacent the bottom of said rear section anddirected upwardly generally parallel to said baffle plate, and means forsupplying compressed air into said rear section to agitate the liquidand kraut therein.

11. Apparatus for processing sauerkraut comprising a tank adapted tohold kraut and a liquid, said tank having a rear wall, a forward wall,and a pair of side walls connecting the rear and forward walls, a bafileplate disposed across said tank between said rear and said forward wallsand dividing said tank into a rear section and a forward section, saidbaffie plate extending from the bottom of the tank to a point below thetop of the tank and being inclined forwardly of the tank from its bottomto its top, a foraminous plate extending forwardly of the tank from saidbafile plate and through which liquid may drain into said forwardsection, said tank being adapted to be filled with kraut and liquid to alevel above the top of said baffle plate, means for pumping liquid outof said forward section and into said rear section adjacent the bottomthereof and including a plurality of nozzles disposed in said rearsection adjacent the rear and bottom thereof and directed forwardly anda plurality of nozzles disposed in said rear section adjacent the bottomthereof and said baffie plate and directed forwardly and upwardlygenerally parallel to said bafiie plate, and means for supplyingcompressed air into said rear section to agitate the liquid and krauttherein.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTSMcTaggart I an. 28, 1930 Cowles Feb. 3, 1931 Skinner July 22, 1941Nielsen Aug. 11, 1942 Dishauzi Aug. 7, 1945 Terrell Jan. 15, 1952

